Kevin writes:

Beginning last February, my credit card (which is on autopay) began to be charged $181 per month for cable Internet and a block of 13 static IP addresses. Yes, that's correct, one hundred and eighty one dollars per month just for Internet access.

Obviously, that was wrong so I looked into it and I found that I had been on a contracted rate with Comcast which had been assigned as a promo rate; however, I'm almost certain that nothing I ever signed specified that rate as being a promo rate OR that the rate would end. I'm highly against rate increases because of promotions and would have never signed anything to that effect unless it was not properly noted and/or explained to me.

So beginning last February, and without any notice, Comcast began charging me almost double what I should be paying for Internet.

My account executive Scott explained what was going on and said that he would fix it. I signed a new 2 year contract that was backdated and amounts ($275.25) were credited onto my account. I pointed out the fact that I was still being charged $181 and he said he'd fix that too but it hasn't happened.

***For the current bill cycle alone, Comcast needs to refund me $74.57.***

This needs to stop so I tried to get it solved by calling the commercial billing support line and they were unable to help me. Another month went by with wrong billing so I began to get more serious about fixing this. For the past month and a half, I have left many voicemails, gone to the local Comcast office to find my account executive—and infact waited for him to arrive for more than 30 minutes without luck. I've left messages for him at work, on his cell phone, at the office, EVERYWHERE.

I've tried all this and yet I'm being billed $181 per month instead of $106 per month since February.

Can someone there spend some time to help a consumer that just happens to have a business account? (for the static IP addresses)

Thank you,
Kevin

(Photo:diaper)

Alisa says:

So apparently, if we don't pay Comcast $0.00 by Monday, we'll get cut off.

Hey, we think you should pay them. If you don't, it says they'll cut off your 911 service.

The drama started when Adam moved and Comcast kept applying his payment to his old account. After a few months of this, they shut off his cable and told him he owed around $300, which he gladly paid over the phone — only to realize that he'd just paid Comcast twice for the same service and that his cable still wasn't back on.

His original email was understandably quite lengthy, but here's how he signed off:

The worst part of it all, LOST is on tonight and I am missing it.

Oh yeah, I am picking up a wireless signal from a neighbor since my internet is out. Be sure to also tell people to secure their networks since you never know who is on it.

The whole mess was eventually straightened out — but Adam decided he'd had enough of Comcast and switched to FiOS, which is where we join his story.

Adam writes:

As I have been updating you on my serious of issues with Comcast and their breaking of protocol, lying to a customer, and inability to handle even the simplest of requests the saga is finally over but not without one last instance of poor customer service.

On Friday 05/15/09 I had FIOS installed but my Comcast billing cycle went through Monday 05/18/09 and on Sunday 05/17/09 at 6:30pm I called Comcast to cancel my service and was unable to speak with a person regarding billing.

I called 2-3 times to try to speak with someone but kept getting taken to the same area on the phone system, and finally after selecting I was having trouble with service was I finally able to get a CSR on the phone. I told them I would like to cancel my service and when they asked why I said I was done with the level of service I got from Comcast and had FIOS installed.

The person said they were sorry to hear that but they were unable to complete my request and I needed to call back on Monday 05/18/09 during business hours because they only had technical support on the weekends. In my last statement to Comcast, I explained that this was exactly the reason I am canceling their service.

I called to handle an issue with them, and it should not matter what day or what time I called, because if I have a billing problem I should be able to speak with a person immediately, but that area is not open on Sundays and there was no one that could help me. I bet if I wanted to start service or purchase additional items like movie channels, pay per views, etc.. someone would have happily done that for me.

I went to the Comcast billing office this morning to return my equipment and cancel my service, and upon telling the person what I wanted to do she did not seem to care or ask any questions, just accepted the items and gave me a return receipt.

Adios Comcast, it has been an unpleasant 6 months with their service. If I can be just 1 person who stands up to them and refuses to accept substandard levels of service, then hopefully I can inspire others to do the same thing.

Thanks again for all your help while I was trying to remedy my situation with Comcast. If i had not had The Consumerist, I would probably still be trying to figure out where my money is and just calling the general help line and never being able to get to the executive level, even though they were just as inept, at least I have it on the official record with them. Now let's just hope that check is actually in the mail to me.

One last piece of advice, Adam. Hang on to that receipt.

(Photo:mojojornjorn)

The Philadelphia Inquirer says that a glitch with the Emergency Alert System caused the program to switch from the Holy See to... well, an ad for boobies. Unlike the Superpornbowl, however, no actual porn was shown. The test was supposed to turn to a channel that provides emergency information.

'Girls Gone Wild' interrupts Good Friday service [Philly Inquirer]
(Photo:Fabio Pozzebom)

Picture it whenever you call them asking why your internet still doesn't work.

Secret Comcast Internal Memo
Priority 1: Huge video wall to display freshman editing projects.
Priority 213243254265: Providing the product people pay us for.

(Photo:Kevin W Burkett)

Here is a video:

Andrew copied us on the letter he sent to Comcast's Twitter-Jedi, Frank Elison.

My parents are at their wits end. Comcast has sent six or so letters over just about 1 year informing us that "TV signal we supply to your address via cable is emanating from [our] home [which] could interfere with aircraft and ship communications ...". The letter we received most recently on 2/13/09 is threatening cancel our service.

We have responded in the manner provided each and every time we respond, however the agents are clueless as to what these letters mean. Finally, we got them to schedule someone to come today. As we waited, for him to come he decided to just call ten minutes before his deadline and say that he had no idea how to solve our problem and will call us tomorrow. We're done waiting until tomorrow.

We've nearly lost faith in letting Comcast solve even their own problems, so this is our last resort before canceling (or being cancelled).

Well, if Frank can't solve the problem, call the FCC. Tell them there's a leaky signal in the neighborhood that Comcast won't fix and that it's sinking ships and causing headaches, and could they please help? If nothing else, you will at least have an interesting conversation.

Update: Andrew adds:

Yes! Comcast Frank Elison fixed our problem!

While dealing with the fiery behemoth of Comcast was not so easy, dealing with Frank Elison was. We exchanged a few emails and within 48 hours our problem was solved. An actual Comcast tech came to the house and fixed whatever the problem was with the lines. Thanks to Frank our Seinfeld reruns are safe. Oh, and as an added bonus, we no longer worry about planes crashing or boats sinking.

William cc'd us on his email to Comcast's Twitter team, who despite a series of chipper emails, weren't able to get William's cable working.

William says (to Comcast):

I am tired of dealing with this... While I love to watch cable and have a few series that I don't want to miss, I have decided to cancel my cable, phone, and internet and go with AT&T. ComcastBill, thanks for your help before, unfortunately the issue was never resolved completely. I have already signed up with AT&T and my service with them will start soon. I am very disappointed with the quality of service I have received from Comcast as a whole.

William also included the notes he took during his 3 months and 26 days as a Comcast customer.

Our favorite part is where a tech shows up 6 hours late during William's SuperBowl party and wants to disconnect the cable so that he can figure out what's wrong with it.

Enjoy.

To Whom It May Concern:

11/16 Service was installed with the wrong package on the account. I didn't have HD channels and was given a DVR that I did not ask for but was being charged for it. (I decided to keep it.) Called and things were corrected before the installation tech left.

11/18 Had problems with the picture becoming pixilated/digitalized. Call CS and they told me to reboot.

11/19 Same problem as the day before called for a second time. I talked with four people and none could help. I talked with someone who said they were a CS supervisor and they had the Mt. Pleasant tech supervisor call me. I talked with Chris (the tech supervisor) and he sent a tech out that day. They gave me a new box and there were still problems. I was told they would have to get maintenance out to check the lines because of a bad signal. They came out and said that the lines in the house were good but the signal from the pole to the house was bad and they would have to get construction to replace it. I asked for a call to let me know when this would happen and was told I would receive one.

11/20 Have note on the door from maintenance tech Greg [redacted] 107 that has a box checked stating that the problem WAS found and FIXED from outside the house.

11/21 Called CS and no one could tell me when the line would be replaced but I was told that I would be getting a call back from a supervisor to let me know within 24 hours. I spoke with a CS rep named Amy, because I was told there would be a credit for all my troubles, she let me know that I would receive a month's credit of $115.95.

11/25 Still no call from a supervisor even after three calls from me requesting one to let me know when the line will be fixed. This day I had no HD channels, interactive guide, and my DVR did not work. No one would send a tech out and I told them that I needed it to work because I was having family in for Thanksgiving. The services started working later this day. I talked with a CS rep named Jennifer and let her know that I wanted to talk with a supervisor and she told me that I could not hold for one but would have to take an escalation # and wait for one to call me back within 24 hours. The # is [redacted] Talked with Cita via online chat and he gave me a # to call corporate (215) 665-1700.

11/26 The escalation ticket did not work either. Still no call back. Called CS (the number I use here is (843) 554-4100) talked with Shelia gave her the escalation number and told her that I would hold for a supervisor because they never call back. Transferred to Ben when I asked if he was a supervisor he said no I told him I would hold he said that couldn't happen. I was adamant that I would not get off the phone until I talked with a supervisor. I was transferred to Suzzanne who acted like a supervisor and after talking for about 5 minutes I asked if she was and she let me know then that she was not and I requested to hold but she told me that she had just sent an IM to one and they would call me back but that there was no way to find out when the line would be replaced. She also put in a request and told me that I would receive the call back before 3 PM on 11/27. After I hung up with her, I called the corporate # and they were closed. Supposed to close at 6 PM (the message said) but it was only 4:55 PM and were already closed.

11/27 No call back all day.

11/28 Called the corporate # and talked with Nichole who said I would receive a call back from an Executive Tech by Monday 12/1.

12/1 No call from Executive Tech. Talked with supervisor named Julia [redacted]. I was told that the new line would be put in that week but that it wasn't put in before because of Thanksgiving and New Year's.

12/6 New box installed and lost all of my recorded programs. Even after still having same problems.

12/10 Still having digitalization of picture and freezing of picture/audio. Called the tech supervisor Adam [redacted] and also called Julia. Neither of them returned my call that day.

12/11 Called Julia she did not answer. Called CS and talked to Phyllis who sent an email to Julia. I finally received a call back that day and confirmed that the line had been replaced but I was still having problems (the picture/audio problems but also the box would reboot at random times and when I would turn the TV off the box would reboot without being touched or the power being turned off) so she scheduled an appointment for a tech to come out once again. Also, waived the rest of the charges for the service (taxes) for the first month.

12/14 Tech came out and said that the only problem was with my HDMI cables so I tried another one that I had and it did the same thing. So he gave me some component cables and I hooked them up.
From this point, my service worked ok with only a few minor annoyances that were fixed by the rebooting of the box. This, while annoying was better than the picture messing up and me not being able to watch shows. Also, the sound quality is diminished because of the RCA cables that I have to use there is also a slight buzz in the sound.
1/3 Freezing of the picture/audio starts again. I didn't call just rebooted and it was fine for a few days.

1/12 Called CS because the picture/audio freezing was happening more often. Spoke with Carol and she "sent a hit" to the box. I asked her to explain what that did and she said it did nothing. I asked the significance of sending the hit if it did nothing and was answered rudely that it was to "fix the problems with the box". Also called Julia to let her know of the problems and requested a call back to talk to her about Carol but still, as of 1/18, have not received a call back.

1/17 Called CS again while the problem was happening (as it had happened everyday at least once and on different channels since 1/12). Spoke with Laquanda ext. 2486 (who was very nice and helpful and should be commended for her customer service) and she scheduled a time for a tech to come out on Tuesday 1/20 to see if he could fix the problem. I asked not to have a box replaced as this is the fourth that I have had and they all do the same thing and she told me that she has put in a detailed ticket for the tech.

1/19 Joshua [redacted] called and left me a message. I returned his call and he sent out a tech named Victor. He re-terminated the connectors for the wall jacks and in the panel.

1/20 Spoke with Leigh [redacted] she sent out two techs who replaced my component cables. They then went outside and found a bad place in the brand new line that was installed, and spliced it. After this, a guy named Mike called to follow up.

2/1 Fox and Friends (channel 428) was having the digitalization problem. I called and left messages with Leigh and Julia. I finally reached Josh and he said that he would send a Tech out at 1pm. I was happy with this because I had people coming over to watch the Super Bowl. 1pm came and went and there was no tech and no phone call to let me know he would be late or not show. At 7:15pm, while my friends, family and I were watching the Super Bowl, a tech showed up and wanted to disconnect the cable to see if he could determine the problem. I told him he should have been here on time and he informed me that he was not even given the assignment until 4pm. I told him sorry and sent him home.

2/2 Leigh called back but the problems had seemed to clear up so I told her just to wait and I would try to record the digitalization as it happened.

2/14 USA HD was doing the digitalization so I recorded it, and called and left a voice mail with Leigh. A few days later (she was on vacation) she called back but the recorded program had been deleted.

At this point, I decided that the fight is not worth my time, the cable still messes up with the digitalization I have a few recorded programs but have not felt like it is worth it to report it. I am tired of having problems and will just have to live with the picture that messes up because I have no other options as I live in apartments that will not allow satellite dishes. I am tired of having techs come out only to leave with everything working and then after a few days or maybe a week and a half it is not working again.

3/13 I received my bill for the month and noticed that my DVR was $9 instead of $7 so I called and was told by a CS rep named Aaron that the price increase was because of the switch to digital cable. I said that doesn't make sense because I have had digital cable the whole time. He responded saying that it was complicated and hard to explain but that it was because of having to push more data over less bandwidth.

I asked for a credit and to keep the $7 price he said he couldn't do that. I told him to cancel the DVR and he said he would and I could bring the box by the local office to finish the cancellation process.

I told him that he should send out a tech to pick up the box because I was not the one who changed the terms and he told me that there would be a $30 charge. I said that I did not agree with that and was not going to pay it. He said that he would note that on the account and I would have to talk to a supervisor when I was billed for it (as he was snickering).

I asked to speak with a supervisor then and he said he would have to put me on the list for a call back. When I mentioned the names of Leigh, and Julia he acted as if he did not know them and I gave him the ext. so that he could contact them. He talked with Julia then put in an escalation and said she would call me back within an hour and a half (by 7:15pm). I received a voice mail and called back but it was after she had left. I left her a message asking for a call back on 3/14.

3/14 I have called AT&T and scheduled service with them. I am still waiting on a call back from Julia as she will be in the office later today. I will let her know then to schedule the cancellation of my service with Comcast for the date when my home phone number is ported to AT&T.

This is all that I have documented on paper. I believe there may be other calls to CS that either were reboots or just to call in and let them know that my service wasn't working correctly to have it documented on my account. I was with Time Warner while in Columbia, SC and never had problems like this. I have never been more dissatisfied with the customer service at a company I was paying to provide a service that was not working. I am very disappointed with the quality of service I have received from Comcast as a whole. I thought that you may like to have this document to help in future training or maybe to develop new ways of dealing with issues such as this that may arise.

Sincerely,
William

(Photo:cmorran123)

Evan says:

Recently, I was forced to cancel my Comcast service (I am moving and our new building has an exclusive deal with another service provider). "Forced" here is a loose term, as I would have gladly told Comcast where to stick their shoddy service had I had an alternative at my old address. But I digress. The cancellation went smoothly, as I explained I was canceling due to a move (I didn't feel like giving the strangely friendly customer service agent my diatribe about why I hate them).

But within a few hours, I received a phone call from a number I didn't recognize. I figured if it was important, they would leave a message. They didn't, so I shrugged it off and continued with my day. Well, a few hours later, the same number calls. Curious, I picked up. Nothing. This was odd to say the least, so I Googled the phone number. Sure enough, 630-288-1777 was listed as a Comcast number. Upon digging, I found stories of other people who had recently canceled their Comcast service and were being constantly called by this number. No one had any solutions.

Well, that was earlier this week. Since then, I have received phone calls from that same number daily every few hours.

This seems like customer abuse, but I'm sure calling their customer service center will result in them denying ownership of the number. So what can I do? Can they really get away with harassment like this?

Companies that had a business relationship with you are allowed to call you for several months after you terminate the relationship—- unless you tell them not to. Since there's no one on the line when they call, why not try calling Comcast's customer service number? Ask them to place you on their do not call list.

Once you've done this, the calls should stop. If they don't, they're probably in violation. Click here to file a complaint.

You can also report them to your state's attorney general.

(Photo:diaper)

"We have shared all of our information on this situation with the FBI and will continue to provide our full cooperation to them throughout their investigation," spokeswoman Kelle Maslyn said in a statement e-mailed to the Arizona Daily Star.

Wow, a real whodunit.

Comcast asking the FBI to solve its porn interruption [AZ Star]

"We feel really bad for the customers that were just getting into it when Comcast rudely switched back to the football game before the clip could really get going," Kim Kysar, a spokeswoman for the company, said in a news release.

To get your free coupon, go to www.iPinkVisualPass.com and entering ‘pornbowl' into the promo code box.

Porn firm offers 'discount' over Super Bowl interruption [AZ Star]

From the Chicago Tribune:

The Comcast technician who came to fix Carolyn Pfeifer's low-hanging cable wire was professional, prompt and pleasant in every way.

Now if he could just shed a few pounds.

Pfeifer said the man arrived at her Plainfield home on a November afternoon and dutifully climbed the utility pole in her backyard to pull the wire up.

Pfeifer went inside and assumed everything was under control. But about 10 minutes later, the technician knocked on her door.

"He said 'I'm sorry, I broke the pole,' " Pfeifer recalled. " 'I guess I need to go on a diet.' "

She tried to get Comcast to fix it, they said it was ComEd's responsibility. ComEd told her she owned the pole and that they were going to shut off her electricity if she didn't get it fixed. When she tried to hire someone to fix it, they told the ground was too frozen to put a new one in. ComEd told her it would cost $6k to bury the wires.

Frustrated, she called the Chicago Tribune, who called Comcast and ComEd on her behalf. Suddenly, both companies were offering to install a new pole. Ultimately, Comcast is taking responsibility.

"Due to the unusual circumstances and our commitment to continue serving the customer, Comcast will incur the cost to replace the pole," said Angelynne Amores, spokeswoman for the cable company.

Behold, the power of local media.

service call leads to power struggle [Chicago Tribune] (Thanks, Mark!)
(Photo:stirwise)

He writes:

Let me give you some back story. I live in Houston Texas and we went through a hurricane back in September. It was absolute hell, we had to pay over $3,000 from our small salary for damage and were without electricity for 3 weeks. Comcast was awful throughout the ordeal, we scheduled appointments and I would miss work and guess what? They were no shows for the first 2 weeks. They finally came, fixed it, but guess how long it took, A MONTH. They didn't even reimburse us for the loss service, they told us they were going to but our bill never showed anything and we called for the reimbursement and they claimed we did have service.

So I just got my last bill and guess what? They had the audacity to charge us $25.00 for a PHONE CALL. We called and complained but they claim they will "try" to fix it, no promises....

Don't let Comcast push you around. Reach out to their resident Twitter-jockey and see if he can't promise to help secure your refund. If that doesn't work, take your complaint straight to the President's office.

Instead of being routed underground between two pedestals that house cables, the wires were strung along the gutters next to the sidewalk, crossing two driveways on the 2600 block of Fairbourne Court. Cables from the pedestals spilled out onto the grass as well.

"I just came home from work one day, and that's how it was," [homeowner, Nicky] Frantz said.

"It's not a huge defect, but we like to keep our area looking nice," she said. "We figured they've got to come back and fix it eventually, and they never did."

Ms. Franz tried showing the cables to some techs who came to repair her family's service over the summer. They didn't fix it. She also tried contacting Comcast's Twitter team — they at least called her back — but didn't fix the problem. Finally, it took a call from the Baltimore Sun before any Comcast trucks showed up.

Comcast's spokesperson told the paper that cable is sometimes installed that way temporarily, and apologized for the delay.

Comcast cables installed in gutter [Baltimore Sun]
(Baltimore Sun photo by Chiaki Kawajiri)

That's what happened to Kirk — and he's refusing to pay up, so Comcast has been harassing him for months. Finally, they stopped letting him use OnDemand, so Kirk canceled.

The story began when the Fire Department was summoned to Kirk's house at 5:30 AM because his cable box had caught fire. He says he never received an apology from Comcast, or any reassurance that the flaming cable box would be investigated. What he did get is a bill for $88 for destroyed equipment.

From The Daily Journal:

What was — and is — of concern to Comcast is the apparent loss of a piece of their equipment, which they billed me for, as though I were responsible for its untimely end! For several months, despite repeated telephone calls explaining why I cannot return their equipment (each of which ends nowhere and during each of which they thank me for choosing Comcast!), the $88 for their lost equipment has remained on my monthly statement along with late fees.

To add insult to injury, I wrote a letter of complaint to the corporate head office in September and, to date, have not received a response to my letter, much less an apology or any kind of guarantee that they will absorb the cost of their faulty equipment.

To be fair, I have paid the full amount of my service each month — less the $88 — which amounts to several hundred dollars, and always on time. In fact, I have been a good customer for almost eight years, and yet Comcast was willing to lose a customer who spends thousands of dollars each year on their services for an $88 piece of equipment that could have killed me in my sleep.

We asked Comcast if they had a comment about the incident, since Mr. Wisemayer didn't seem to be having much luck contacting them. Here's what they told us:

We spoke to Mr. Wisemayer this morning and apologized for his experience with our service. Our team is looking into these events and will work with Mr. Wisemayer to restore his service to his satisfaction.

If you're having trouble successfully communicating with Comcast, you should contact their team of powerful internet ninjas. They can be found at Twitter.

Burned up over cable company response [Daily Journal](Thanks, Mike!)
(Photo: Getty)

Here is a brief excerpt. Theories are proposed, and theories are refuted.

Maryjo Bacolod > May I just ask as to what voice prompt you are getting
whenever trying to dial a 603 number?

Brad_ > "we're sorry. due to telephone company trouble, your call cannot be completed at
this time. Will you try your call again later?"
Brad_ > Toll calls work fine. I can call my voice mail box in Seattle, but not my neighbor

Maryjo Bacolod > Also, to better look into your concern, can you provide me a specific
number that you have tried to contact using your phone service with us?

Brad_ > (It's a free, quasipalindromic box... it's cool).
Brad_ > I tried calling my pharmacy — 437-8100. Tried placing a reorder for insulin and I can't get through
Brad_ > I fear for my life if we don't resolve this problem.

Maryjo Bacolod > I really apologize for this.
Maryjo Bacolod > We have already checked here on our end and everything seems
to be working fine with your phone service.
Maryjo Bacolod > There are no current outages.

Brad_ > Then what's the problem?

Maryjo Bacolod > The problem could be with the phone provider of the recepient you are trying to call

Brad_ > Why can't I dial locally?

Maryjo Bacolod > But let me also check here on my end. i would need a minute or two for this.
I'll try to contact the phone number you are trying to access/ call.

Brad_ > I tried calling my parents, my cell phone, my wife's cell phone, the pizza place, a girl I dated
in high school, and the animal shelter. All within 603. Same bloody telephone company problem
error message
Brad_ > It's a problem with the telephone company, you. Not the good folks I was trying to call.
Brad_ > I won't sit idly by while you besmirch the name of the pizza place and the animal shelter, good madam.

Maryjo Bacolod > Let me try to dial it on my end so we can verify.

Brad_ > Please.

Maryjo Bacolod > Would you allow me two minutes for that?
Maryjo Bacolod > Thanks

Brad_ > Take three, they're small.

Maryjo Bacolod > I will try to make a test call to this number you have provided.

Brad_ > Aaaaaaaand....?

Maryjo Bacolod > Sorry for the long wait.
Maryjo Bacolod > I tried dialing your pharmacy's phone number and we can access it here on our end.

Brad_ > No problem. I thought you didn't take your torch and got eaten by a grue.
Brad_ > Cool. So what's messed up between me and them?

Maryjo Bacolod > When do you get the error message. Is it after dialing all the numbers?
Maryjo Bacolod > Or does it prompt you after 4 numbers dialed.
Maryjo Bacolod > or after dialing 603?

Brad_ > I dial the full seven digits, wait about 10 seconds, and instead of the ring, I hear the faux-British lady telling me the telephone company is screwed up
Brad_ > I'm in 603, I don't need to dial it for local calls
Brad_ > I don't think the faux-British lady is even faux-British. Probably Welsh

Maryjo Bacolod > I see. As per advice of my supervisor, the 603 area code has to be included during the dialing process.
Maryjo Bacolod > Can you try doing it on your end?
Maryjo Bacolod > Just to see if it works.

Brad_ > Why would I suddenly have to start dialing 603?
Brad_ > Why wouldn't I have been notified so I wouldn't lose close to two hours of my
life on this issue?

Maryjo Bacolod > I apologize for that.

Brad_ > IT didn't work. I don't trust you or your supervisor

Eventually the CSR agrees to schedule a technician. This is Brad's second chat — after he never received a promised follow-up call.

New chat log:
user Brad_ has entered room
Brad>Need to schedule support, I suspect a faulty modem. Can receive inbound calls, can make long distance calls, cannot make local calls.

analyst Michael has entered room

Michael>Hello Brad_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Michael. Please give me one moment to review your information.
Michael>I will be happy to assist you with that.
Michael>Since your account protection is a priority to Comcast, I need to verify some information before I am able assist you. May I have the full name,and phone number the account is under. Thank you.

Brad_>Sure, Brad Gagne, number’s [redacted]

Michael>Thank you, One moment please, While I verify that information, and I will be back with you shortly.

Brad_>Cool.

Michael>What lights are on the phone modem, Please let me know which are steady and which are flashing.

Brad_>Battery light is blinking green, all others are steady green
Brad_>Thursday night reps Katrina and MaryJo line tested the heck out of our setup, reset the modem remotely, but ended up scratching their heads

Michael>Thank you, One moment Please.

Brad_>And a promised call to schedule service never came
Brad_>*** WARNING *** I’m getting frustrated

Michael>Thank you
Michael>I do understand, testing indecated that I will need tor reset your modem.

Brad_>… and the seventeenth time is any different from the previous 16?
Brad_>Do you have the chatlogs from before?

Michael>I can only hope if it doesn’t work I will schedule a Technician and tell them to bring a new modem.

Brad_>It won’t do a bit of good, but go ahead
Brad_>Work the script

Michael>Thank you for your understanding,

Brad_>IS there any record of the two hours that I’ve already spent on this on your end?

user Brad_ has left room
analyst Michael has left room

Brad_>It’s back up, all green with a blinking battery
Brad_>Seriously… I got dropped again?
Brad_>Hello?
Brad_>Good acoustics in here.
Brad_>Just a small town girl… living in a lone-ly worllllld
Brad_>She took a midnight train goin’ an-ny-wherrrrre…
Brad_>Just a city boy… born ‘n raised in South Detroiiiit…
Brad_>He took a midnight train goin’ an-ny-wherrrrre…
Brad_>I power cycled it myself when your reset brought me nothing but pain
Brad_>Can you hear me now? (Sorry, that’s the other guys)
Brad_>[Tap] [Tap] [Tap] Hello?
Brad_>Michael? You there buddy?
Brad_>Michael?
Brad_>Miiiiichael?
Brad_>You still there?

Michael>Analyst has closed chat and left the room

We wonder how many times a day this exact chat is held with Comcast. Hundreds? Thousands? Eventually Brad did get a technician scheduled, but it took yet another chat session. Next time, why not try the services of Comcast's Twitter team? Tell them the Consumerist sent ya.

Comcast Can Kiss My Ass [GDSOB]
Comcast Can Kiss My Ass Round 2 [GDSOB]
Comcast can Kiss My Ass Round 3 [GDSOB]
(Photo: mojojornjorn )

UPDATE: Brad got some Comcast technicians out to his house. They diagnosed his problem as a broken "9" button — although there is still some mystery to the issue. None of the numbers Brad was unable to call contained a "9".

Amy says:

I know you guys like to rip on Comcast, and now I better understand why. Yesterday, one of my three apartment mates had cable installed in her room. The guy took 2 and a half hours to do everything, which didn't make sense to me, because we've had Comcast cable before so everything should have been all ready to go. And then he left the outlets in the other rooms undone, and even ripped into my wall (see attached photos). And this is the "finished" job. I'm sure my landlord will be pleased.

Yikes. You might want to consider sharing these photos with Comcast HQ— be sure to request that the damage to your apartment be repaired and the outlets installed properly.

WSBTV says that the contractor, Madison Communications, has offered her $12,000 to fix the kitchen, which she would gladly accept — were it not for the fact that the estimates she's gotten say that it will take her at least $15,000-$16,000 to clean up the mess.

We hope she's able to get this resolved, but there is one ray of hope — the limit for small claims court in Georgia is $15,000. Go get 'em, Tressy!

Homeowner Says Cable Mistake Filled Kitchen With Raw Sewage [WSBTV] (Thanks, Tim!)

They told a woman they needed to come into her house to fix some wiring, according to a police report. She noted the men drove a black Saturn sedan rather than a marked Comcast vehicle and refused to let them enter, saying she didn't have an appointment.

The woman told police the men walked down the street knocking on doors.

An 80-year-old homeowner who lives across the street told police he and his son let the men inside. While inside, one of the men had the elderly man say his Social Security number into a cell phone and gave him a false work order, according to the report.

Comcast employees, including contractors, have identification available at all times and usually have a Comcast or contractor vehicle, company spokesman Steve Kipp said.

In some door-to-door sales cases, Comcast employees may ask for the last four digits of a customer's Social Security number to verify an account, he said. But that information also can be provided over the phone, Kipp said.

Installers never ask for money and should have their Comcast badges prominently displayed, he said.

Today the paper posted a new report that confirms that these mysterious social security number thieves were in fact actual Comcast contractors who were not following proper company procedure.

Kipp said the contractors, working for Roseville, Calif.-based Winmark Authorized Agent Group, should have had their Comcast identification present.

"We're working with the contracting company to make sure they're properly trained and an incident like this wouldn't happen again," Kipp said.

He said the Social Security and AARP membership information obtained from one man was used to verify a Comcast account and not retained by the contractors.

According to Winmark Authorized Agent Group's website they're a D2D marketing firm. They don't appear to be in the "wiring fixing" business.

Police searching for fraudulent Comcast employees [Seattle P-I]
Wanted Comcast contractors actually legit, company says [Seattle P-I]

From the Peoria Journal Star:

"The directions that we sent to Comcast were misunderstood," Big Ten Network president Mark Silverman said. "Instead of putting the Illini game on the main channel . . . inadvertently the Northwestern game was put on the main network throughout the state.

"We're going to have another level added to this process . . . to make sure it doesn't happen again. What happened happened, and we know the fans were very upset."

Most Comcast customers in the state subscribe to digital service and were able to see the Illinois game in its entirety, said Rich Ruggiero, Comcast spokesman in Chicago.

"Comcast regrets that standard cable customers were unable to watch the game, and we are working with the Big Ten Network to ensure Comcast will be able to offer Big Ten Network coverage of Illinois games on standard cable to central Illinois viewers throughout the rest of the season," Ruggiero said.

TV snafu prompts apologies [PJS]
(AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

A viewer from West Haven e-mailed the Register to say that, when his daughter called Comcast, “they admitted to receiving many irate complaints and claimed that the NFL ordered this to happen. That is totally false! Their claim was that due to our close proximity to Foxboro, the NFL ordered the game to be blacked out.”

Comcast spokeswoman Laura Brubaker on Monday said the signal overlay was a mistake, related to the standard practice of “network nonduplication protection.”

“Due to an inadvertent technical error, Comcast erroneously overrode the broadcast of Sunday’s NFL match-up between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins on WCBS in the New Haven area. We apologize for the inconvenience this caused our customers,” Brubaker said.

You'd think after so many irate calls, Comcast would start to suspect that something was wrong...?

Comcast admits it fumbled Jets game [New Haven Register]
(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

After his bill kept increasing mysteriously each month Adam and his wife decided that they'd better downgrade their package and get rid of Comcast's digital phone service. It only took 3 days and 9 phone calls before Adam's wife gave up and just went to Comcast's office. And, naturally, when she got home with her new modem the internet didn't work. And when they fixed the internet the cable stopped working. So far, Adam and Crystal are up to 13 calls to Comcast...

- Monday, I got on the phone and called at 9:30pm to find that their offices were closed at 9pm.

- Wednesday, I called at 8:15pm, got the run around and had to hang up to take care of other obligations. I promised I would call back the following night to discuss the matter further.

- Thursday, I started calling at 8pm...

Call #1-2: The first two calls I was put on hold for ten minutes before getting a tier 1 representative. Tier 1 reps can talk about what is on your bill and why it is there, but can not change anything. When the tier 1 rep put me on hold for a tier 2 rep who could change my account (see above: account specialist) I was disconnected both times.

Call #3: My third call landed me a tier 1 rep again who sent me to hold for a tier 2. When what I thought was a tier 2 rep picked up it turned out to be a tier 1 again. I Expressed my frustration to this rep and was assured that I would be put in touch with a specialist this time. I held for 5 minutes and was disconnected.

Call #4: Call #4 had me back on the line with a tier 1 and begging to talk to someone who could actually help as it was 8:52pm and I knew they closed at nine. I was put on hold for a tier 2 and finally someone from sales picked up. The guy from sales said he could not help me, but would transfer me to a account specialist who could. I told him the department closed at 9pm and that I wanted to make sure I got someone on the line. He assured me that the department was open 24 hours a day even after I told him about the prerecorded message I had heard Monday. At 8:56pm I was transferred and got the message about the department closing at 9pm.

Call #5: While on hold for call #4 I asked Crystal to call as well in an attempt to double our chances. The tier 1 rep transferred her to the tier 2 department at 8:55pm and she got the closed message.

Call #6: Crystal's final call of the night was made at 8:57pm where upon she got to a tier 1 rep who told her that the account specialist office was closed at 9pm. My loving wife pointed out the simple fact that it was 8:57pm and wondered to the rep if every account specialist left early that night. The rep repeated herself again (in her best monotone put out robot voice) and tried to end the call. Crystal asked to speak to a manager and the rep told her that a manager would tell her the same thing and could not make account changes. The rep then wished Crystal good night and hung up.

- Friday came and Crystal had the day off. She called mid day and went from a tier 1 to a tier 2 the first try. She decided to downgrade our package and drop the digital phone. When the phone call was nearly complete the line disconnected. Having had enough phone calls to Comcast in one lifetime she decided to drive up to the Richmond office. When she arrived she got in line exchanged the combo internet/phone modem for just and internet one and got an estimate for what our monthly bill would be ($125 by the way).

When she arrived home she hooked up the new modem and the internet did not work anymore. She called Comcast repair and was told she had two options.

1. Remove the plan downgrade, get a chance to fix the internet and be transferred to a tier 2 rep who could reapply the downgrade.

2. Wait till August 5th (4 days without internet) for the plan downgrade to go through their system and then get a chance to fix the internet.

Frustrated she choose door number two in the hopes that I could fix it when I got home from work. When I did arrive home I made sure everything was hooked up properly (it was) and called the same repair department she had earlier. I actually got a competent person on the phone and had the internet fixed in 20 minutes, without any mention of downgrades.

The cable TV in our office stopped working later that night and has not worked all weekend. Crystal called and they assured her that the only way to fix it was by sending out some one to repair it. I am going to call tonight and roll the dice (more like Russian roulette) that I get someone smart on the phone. That or yell at a twenty something who makes $10 an hour.

The icing on this crap cake... Verizon sent us a postcard in the mail starting a two month count down for Fios in our area. You bet your sweet ass I am switching!

UPDATE: Comcast Frank sent us the following statement:

We already reached out to Adam on his blog and we are reviewing this experience with our leaders in Richmond. This was unacceptable and we will make sure we learn from it and work to make sure it is avoided in the future. We have apologized to Adam and we will also make sure he is cared for based on the trouble we created.

Comcast is an Asshole [A2W]
(Photo: Spidra Webster )

Kyle says:

I'm in the basement playing video games and my wife calls down to me, telling me that there are two guys digging in our front yard. I run up stairs to check it out, and they tell me that they're running cable to my neighbor's house. I would have no problem with this, except that they were running the line through my yard, and not through the other patch of grass near the curb where they should have been running it. I spoke to one of them and asked why they didn't ask me if they could dig on my property, and he gave me some noise about needing to run it over here because of the line signal. I told him to stop digging for a few minutes while I spoke with someone at Comcast.

I call the local number, navigate the tree and finally get in touch with a human being. For the first time in probably 3 years, I did not confirm the woman's name before continuing. I explained the situation and she tells me that she can't do anything about it. I ask to be put in touch with someone who can do something about it. She asks me for either my phone number or my account number, both of which I decline to provide. She continues saying that she's trying to help me, I inform her that she does not need my phone number to transfer me to someone who can help me. She asks if I'm a Comcast customer, I say yes, but also tell her that it doesn't matter; if I was a Dish customer, they still wouldn't be able to dig in my yard.

At this point she starts trying to talk over me, and I raise my voice to drown her attempts to talk over me. Then she hangs up on me. I'm researching DirecTV and Dish as we speak.

We asked Comcast for their official lawn digging policy, but our email went unanswered at the time of this post. Kyle says that the Comcast workers did a good job covering up where they were digging, but he's "just irritated that two Comcast techs took it upon themselves to start digging on private property when there is an area near the curb that they could have used that isn't my property." He also adds: "The real test will come in next several days, seeing if any of that grass ends up dying."

Since we don't know Comcast's official policy about digging up your lawn, we'll just refer our readers to their official coffee making policy. It is totally irrelevant, but quite comprehensive.

Kyle sends an update:

Comcast has an easement on the property on the other side of the sidewalk, a strip of grass roughly 3 feet wide directly next to the curb. This same strip of grass is where the box is located, in front of my other neighbor's house.

Had they used this area (and this area only) I would have had no problem. Instead, they also used a part of my yard, which is not fenced. There is no easement on my property, aside from that "communal" strip of grass.

Comcast has written us back and will be investigating the issue further, but in the meantime, Frank, Comcast's Twitter-jockey, says:

"The rules and policies regarding utility easements vary by municipality guidelines. It is always our goal to do any type of digging in the least intrusive manner possible. "

Frank from Comcast sends another update. He says that Comcast was within its legal rights to dig up Kyle's lawn, but admits that it could have been handled better. (Like, by not hanging up on him.)

As a quick follow up regarding this situation. The place where work was being done was in the utility easement for [redacted], which is 12 feet from the curb. We are working with the Customer to learn more of his experience and improve it for others. But ultimately we could have done a better job of explaining what we were doing and what an easement is.

Yay, communication.

(Photo: u2acro )

After five weeks, 20 calls, a day off work and three visits that ended without any idea why Bayes couldn't get service, Comcast found the solution to this head-scratcher of a problem: The company hadn't run cable lines to Bayes's house.

...Bayes, a membership specialist for the National Rifle Association, said his problem began before the first service agent came to his home. The new-home specialist should have been able to tell Bayes there was no service to his new home from the first call, he said. None of the many other service representatives caught that error for weeks.

Comcast installed a line from the neighborhood hub to his home almost six weeks after his first call.

"We went above and beyond for him," [Spokeswoman Jenni Moyer] said.

But that wasn't enough for Bayes. Last week, he switched providers.

"Above and beyond?" Seriously?

Call the Cable Guy. Again. [Washington Post] (Thanks, Brian!)
(Photo: cmorran123 )

I'm writing cause I'm at my wits when and don't really know what else to do. Approximately 4 months ago I called up comcast and explained to them that I needed to have the movie channels discontinued since I don't watch them anymore. I also told them I wanted to add the Baseball package which I really missed the year before when I didn't order it. The guy explained to me that my bill for everything I had would go down to approximately $115+40 for my baseball package (for the time it was on). Sure enough my next bill was 115 since the baseball season hadn't started yet.

The following month I got this bill for $380. I called and talked to a couple people including a manager, who's names I wrote down, they all insisted that I owed comcast $380 or else. Finally, I got in touch with a sweet old lady from the billing department to whom I explained that I had spoke to a rep the month before who had told me I would only owe $115+40 for the baseball package. She asked for some time to look into the issue and through the call logs and said she would call me back. Sure enough she called be back and said that she couldn't put me on $115 a month but could put me on $120 a month package which I was fine with she said she'd fix it and everything would be fine by the next bill.

May bill comes in and again the bill is for $320. So I called comcast again to find out what the issue was and they insisted that I had not fully paid my bill in past couple months. I told them the names of the people I spoke with and to look into the account notes in the system. Again we went through the whole song and dance and the lady said she'd fix it and I should call back in a couple days to verify that the problem had in fact been rectified in the system. She even gave me her extension and name and said I should ask to speak with her. Well I call back and when the comcast agent picks up the phone I asked to be transferred to Debbie. He responded that he couldn't and that he would help me with my problem today.

Well, we got in to a discussion on how I had already told this story a million times and didn't want to have to tell it a million and one times and that I had dealt with Debbie and that I wanted to speak directly with her cause she was familiar with my case. He informed me that their system was not capable of transferring people from one agent to another and that he didn't know who Debbie was, which was funny considering that the gentleman I had spoke with earlier that day said no problem but she wasn't at her desk and to call back. So I told him I wasn't talking to him and I wanted to speak with his manager. The agent again informed me that he couldn't transfer me to his manager cause the system wouldn't allow it without me telling him my problem first and that even if he did his manager was working with the same tools as him and couldn't transfer me back to Debbie. After this round robin of me say I wanted to speak with Debbie and him saying he couldn't transfer me cause the system wouldn't allow it, he said that he would go find his manager and see about what he could do. Upon returning he informed me that his manager said he could transfer me to Debbie if I told him what my issue was. Upon which the following discussion came out of.

Me: So you lied to me?
Comcast Agent: No sir I did not lie to you.
Me: You told me that there was no way to transfer me from one person to another in the system, that is what you said!
Comcast Agent: Yes sir I did say that but...
Me: So you lied to me then!!!
Comcast Agent: Ok sir I lied to you.
Me: Apologize to me!
Comcast Agent: Well sir it wasn't really lying.
Me: Apologize to me or else were going to wait here until you do.
Comcast Agent: Ok... Sorry.
Me: What are you sorry for?
Comcast Agent: I'm sorry I lied to you.
Me: What did you lie to me about.
Comcast Agent: I'm sorry I lied to you about being able to transfer you to another agent.

Normally I try to be a little more nicer to people but I can't stand people treating me like I'm 4 and lying to me. So I told him my issue and he said he would fix it. To which I got his name and told him if I found out he lied to me again by telling me he would fix it then I would be calling him back.

June comes around and I get a bill for $320, again its wrong but this month I'm moving so I make a payment for the amount I really owe and call up to get the rest taken care of. The lady tells me that she'll fix it but its going to take a day in the system cause its got to go up for approval. So, with boxes all around me, I tell her ok and that I just need to schedule a move and that it.

Now she informs me that they can't process a move until the account is corrected so I'm stuck without cable for a couple days but I should call back Monday and verify that everything is fine. So this morning I got onto Comcast's website to find out if the changes had been made, and talked with a gentleman by chat, who informed me that comcast had already credited me with $245 and that I should be grateful for that. I asked him to look at the notes for the account to which he said that he couldn't see any notes made by people who called in but only by instant online chat.

Needless to say my problem is not in act fixed and I don't know what to do. I've called and I've called they say its fixed and then the next month there a huge bill. My apartment building only allows comcast no DishTV, DirectTV or FIOS. I've had it up to here with Comcast but need internet and would like Cable TV.

-Christopher

You didn't mention where you lived, but from the sound of things, your community might have a franchise agreement of some kind with Comcast. Contact your local government and ask them how to file a formal complaint about Comcast and their inability to send you an accurate bill. If your email to us fails to impress, that might get their attention. If nothing else, it'll give your town hall some more ammo to throw Comcast's way when they're feeling annoyed, and we're in favor of that.

Ryan says:

Apparently their trucks run on "high speed" only. And guess what? No free cable.